


All Was Quiet

by umaspirateship



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Gen, Mal-centric, Post-Descendants (2015), descendantssecretsanta, first christmas in auradon, post-holiday fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21985198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/umaspirateship/pseuds/umaspirateship
Summary: After the Holidays, Mal feels unsettled and can't figure out why. She misses her AK friends, and she hates the quiet that has blanketed campus.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	All Was Quiet

After Christmas, Mal thought, it was like the whole castle had fallen into a deep sleep. The decorations were still up, the fires still roaring in the fireplaces, the snow still settling on the ground. Even the lake was silent, the water rushing soundlessly beneath a thick layer of ice. She’d made the trek out there, wrapped up in a thick coat, scarf, and hand-knit hat, after lunch, and watched as the sun, from where it peaked out behind the clouds, threw sparkles over the ground.

It was too quiet.

Mal wondered how her mother bore the endless quiet of the kingdom for a hundred years, how she wanted it to last a hundred more.

She’d gone to the Enchanted Lake again hoping that she’d be able to get her head back on the right way. Instead, she’d worked herself into a state, and soon found herself walking back to the dorms, furious.

There wasn’t anyone around, even, to appreciate her sharp and burning glares! They’d all _left_ , to _home_ , for the holidays. Which Mal hadn’t minded, at first. Ben had stuck around, after all, and had organized all the typical Christmas activities for them. They’d decorated the tree, drank hot cocoa, had snowball fights, and gathered around the fire to open presents. But now, in the silent hallways of Auradon Prep, it was almost like Mal could hear all of the voices of the people who had left.

Lonnie had taken off almost as soon as the final bell rang, hoping to catch the first train out in time to make it home before the blizzard hit. She’d stopped just long enough to give Mal a hug, and a small gift. “A token,” she’d said, “from my family.” Mal had turned it over in her hands a few times, trying to work out the details. “It’s supposed to give you good dreams,” Lonnie said as they walked together towards the front doors. “But it works as an ornament, too, if you tie a ribbon on the top.”

Mal had placed it on her nightstand, lying snugly on top of her spellbook, and wished for it to work. She kept it there, even after the tree went up, and looked at it when she couldn’t sleep.

She missed Jane, too, despite all the trouble she’d caused. Well. It had saved Mal from a lot of trouble, in the end, anyway. Jane had given her the chance to choose Good, and anything could be forgiven in Auradon. Besides, they’d grown close, and, by the end of the semester, found themselves studying together in the library to prepare for their _Introductory History of Auradon_ final. Jane had even stayed a little after term ended, fluttering around the castle and wrapping things up before the holidays before Ben had rather passive-aggressively peer pressured her into going home to celebrate with her mom. Jane’s gift had come in the mail two days before Christmas and had come out of the plain brown mailing box bright blue with a giant bow.

“I’m not really artsy like you, or like Evie,” read Jane’s card, “But I hope you like it. It’s always best to be cozy during the holidays, and I hope I can help with that a little!” It was a pillow with cross-stitching splashed tastefully on the front cover. Little blue snowflakes fell in a white cotton sky, and little versions of Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos, were standing in the snow, making a snowman. On the back, in smaller text, read _For Good Friends, Merry Christmas, Jane, 2015_. She’d carefully handstitched the message on a small red cloth, and sewn it on the back. Mal liked the art, but almost liked the message even more. “For good friends.” She wished Jane had been there to give it to her in person, so she could thank her for real. Mal had never been good at communicating through letters, and even on the Isle would prefer to go in person than send a message through a middleman. And, now that she was feeling more confident about herself, Jane had a smile that could light up the room and could give hugs so comforting they were becoming famous among their friends. There were lots of things about a person, Mal thought, that you couldn’t really experience when they weren’t there.

Mal even, to her horror, missed Audrey. Audrey was bossy, and selfish, and thought everyone else was beneath her. But, then again, so was Uma, and Mal had been friends with her for a while before the ruthlessness of the Isle had torn them apart. Or, well. Before Mal had self-sabotaged their friendship. Even Mal herself was bossy, and selfish, a lot of the time. She’d keep things to herself, hide her plans, and always expected her orders to be followed, without explanation. She cared about her friends, but everyone else she mistrusted. She still wasn’t sure there wasn’t some secret con or scheme behind every dazzling bright Auradon smile. She respected Audrey for that, at least, that she was upfront about who she was. She was royalty, Audrey always snapped, and that meant making and _using_ connections, to her own benefit. “You wouldn’t understand,” she’d tell Mal, whenever asked about some new element of Auradon court life. But Mal did understand and thought it _fascinating._ Mal _had_ been top in her Evil Schemes class at Serpent Prep, thank you very much. Eventually, Audrey had given up shoving Mal away every time she bothered her in the hall. “You may not have manners,” Audrey would humph, obviously still mad, “But I do.”

It did get easier, being friends, after Mal and Ben had broken up. Mal wished it hadn’t happened. Or that it hadn’t impacted her friendship with Audrey so much. But suddenly, Audrey found that Mal wasn’t so different from her after all, since she wasn’t wearing her Ben-tinted glasses. Well. Mal said “friends,” because that’s what you called everyone in Auradon you talked to. But she still saw Audrey as her rival (and Audrey still saw her as a nuisance). It was thrilling and hilarious and exciting. Mal loved it. So it wasn’t that much of a surprise when, rather than give her a present, Audrey said, “You would just steal anything you wanted, anyway, so there’s no point in buying you a gift.” Mal replied, “And if you wanted something, you would have already convinced someone to buy it for you.” Audrey had rolled her eyes and stalked off, calling over her shoulder, “I’m leaving because I’m late for Calculus, so don’t think you’ve won!” Mal wished she was here, because then, at least, she’d have some way to release all this pent-up anger.

And Mal WAS angry. She was angry that her friends were far away, that she was alone. She was mad that it was so quiet, it put her off, and mad her feel like something was awfully wrong. She was furious that she’d never been able to experience an Auradon Christmas before and now, just after her first one was finished, she was spending time thinking about her _mother_ of all people. Her mother who was still a lizard trapped in her room. Mal thought about going back to their dorm, but thinking about the little lizard lounging about in its cage next to her bed just made her spiral even further into frustration.

Mal didn’t know what to do.

“Woah,” came a voice from the floor lounge. “Where are you going so fast? You sure you don’t want to try out for the team?”

“No Jay,” Mal said, coming to a stop in front of the couch where he was sitting. “I don’t want to play tourney. It’s bad enough having to listen to you and Carlos and Ben blabber on about it all the time.”

“Hey, no need to be rude,” Jay said, grinning, “You love coming to our games, and you know it.”

“Whatever makes you feel better,” Mal said. She flopped down on the couch and sighed.

“Do you want me to leave?” Jay asked. “I can always go watch Carlos play that videogame he made me buy him.”

“Isn’t that a singleplayer game?”

“Yeah, well I said I was just going to _watch,_ didn’t I? Plenty of people watch gaming videos on the internet.”

Mal rolled her eyes. “As exciting as that sounds, Carlos probably doesn’t want to be bothered right now. You know how he gets with new tech.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jay said. He fell silent, watching her thoughtfully as she glared at the wall.

“Got anything I can punch?” Mal asked after a while.

“Isn’t the holiday season supposed to be about goodwill and cheer?” Jay said, laying his head on her shoulder. “Who pissed you off this time?”

“No one. The air. My mom. I don’t know.” Mal laid her head against his and frowned. “Why is Auradon so goddamn confusing? I don’t even know what I’m angry about anymore.”

“Didn’t you like the holidays?” Jay asked. “I thought you had fun. At least a little.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

“But?”

“What happens now, Jay?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Jay said, lifting his head from underneath hers so he could look her in the eyes properly.

“Now that it’s over,” Mal said. “I mean. Haven’t you noticed how quiet it is around here?”

“Yeah, I suppose. It’s weird being at school when there’s no one else here.”

Mal stood up and waved her hands around, “That’s it! That’s it exactly! Everyone kept going on and on about being home for the holidays, and it was fine, when we were busy, distracted, whatever. But now that the celebrations are over, everyone’s still gone, and we’re not home! We’re at school! It’s weird Jay!”

“Well, yeah. We’ll always be different. We’re villain kids, it makes us who we are.”

“But I just want to spend a holiday where things make sense,” said Mal. “I guess Maleficent ruined that for me, forever.”

“Not entirely,” Jay said. “Look, Mal. We’re at school, yeah, but we’re home, just as much as we’ve ever been. We have each other’s backs, that’s why we’re family. Do you want something to punch? Then I’ll find you something to punch. But personally? I think we should find Evie and Carlos first. Come on.” Jay stood and started heading down the hall. “I think Evie’s in her room, messing with her new serger.”

Jay and Mal found themselves dragging Evie and Carlos out of their rooms, away from their shiny new toys, and into one of the classrooms at the back of the library.

“Why are we here?” asked Carlos looking around.

“I wanted to pick someplace that wasn’t covered in Christmas decorations,” said Jay. “This is the closest place I could find.”

“Aren’t there still Christmas lights on the windows?” Evie asked, pointing.

“Like I said, somewhere that isn’t _covered_ in decorations.”

“Okay, whatever man,” said Carlos, “But _why_ are we here? I was almost to level nine!”

Mal sat on one of the desks and crossed her arms when Jay sent her a look. Evie, glancing quickly between the two of them, hummed. Carlos threw his hands up, “Well? What’s going on?”

Evie spoke first. “You know, I never thought winter break could be so lonely. We’ve all sort of grown to be independent people, I guess, since we don’t need to stay so close here. But, now that everyone’s gone, it just means I spend a lot of time stuck in my own head. I’ve made four dresses since Christmas, _four,_ and they’ve all turned out a mess!”

“I keep feeling like I should be studying,” Carlos let out a little laugh as he spoke, “And I’m even starting to miss playing tourney if you can believe it.”

Mal smiled a little and said, “I’m starting to hear Audrey’s voice nagging me when I’m alone. You don’t think I’m going nuts?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works,” Jay said, “I’m pretty sure that’s just a sign you care about her.”

“You jerk!” Mal said, leaning over farther so she could shove him a little. “You didn’t tell us why we’re here, anyway. Stop dragging on and get to the point.”

“I thought, maybe,” he said, “We could make this place feel a bit more like home? I know we’re still at school. Like, I literally brought us to a classroom. But. Any place can be home if we add the right touch.”

“Oh my gods,” Evie said, putting her head in her hands. “You’re going to make us play _Villainous.”_

“Yessssss,” Carlos pumped his hands up and down, “I’m going to win!”

“Remember rule one!” Jay said, grinning, as they chanted in unison, **“Mal always wins.”**

Mal smiled and pushed up her sleeves. This was better than punching something. It was better than stalking around the Enchanted Lake in the snow.

“It’s a good thing we’re in this classroom,” Mal said, “Because you’re all about to get schooled!”

Christmas traditions were nice and all, Mal thought as they raced around the classroom, (Jay nearly tackling Carlos when he won the crown for the second time) but in the lonely and quiet hours after the holidays, and before school was back in session, there was no place like being here, with her friends. Being home.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, "Villainous" is an actual game, where you play as a famous disney villain to try and achieve your villain's goals. I imagine the Isle version is chaotic-ier and has more rule-breaking, and also, like, charades.
> 
> This is a secret santa gift for @malicebertha on tumblr! I hope you enjoy it, even if it's a little late, as I found Mal wanted to stew around Auradon Prep a little bit longer before settling on a story. As a post-Christmas story, it ended up being almost fitting that I am posting it now rather than on Christmas. I hope your winter-y season is going well, and hope you enjoy the fic!
> 
> \- abbey, owner/operator of umaspirateship
> 
> post: if you want me to tag you as the giftee for this work, just let me know!


End file.
